''Raising the Bar'' is an American

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

created by

Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...

and

David Feige David Feige is an American lawyer, legal commentator, and author. He is the author of the memoir, ''Indefensible: One Lawyer's Journey into the Inferno of American Justice'', and co-creator of the TNT legal drama '' Raising the Bar'', both of whic ...

, which ran on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

network from September 1, 2008 to December 24, 2009.

Plot

Idealistic public defender Jerry Kellerman does whatever it takes to assist the helpless and disenfranchised, which often leads to clashes in the courtroom presided over by Judge Trudy Kessler, a hard-liner hoping to become the city's next district attorney. Jerry has many clashes with both

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

and the assistant

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

s (ADAs) such as Michelle Ernhardt, the beautiful and occasionally devious attorney with whom he has had a turbulent secret fling.

Cast and characters

Mark-Paul Gosselaar Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar (; born March 1, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles, most notably as Zack Morris in ''Saved by the Bell''. In 1991, he won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Pri ...

as Jerry Kellerman *

Gloria Reuben Gloria Elizabeth Reuben is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and singer. She is well-known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on the medical drama ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1995–1999, 2008), for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, a ...

as Rosalind Whitman *

Jane Kaczmarek Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominat ...

as Trudy Kessler * Melissa Sagemiller as Michelle Earnhardt *

Jonathan Scarfe Jonathan Scarfe (born December 16, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. Early life He was born in Toronto, Ontario, to actors Alan Scarfe and Sara Botsford. He dropped out of high school at age 15, and at the age of 16 he spent a yea ...

as Charlie Sagansky * J. August Richards as Marcus McGrath *

Currie Graham Currie Graham (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian stage, film and television actor. While primarily recognized as a TV actor, he has numerous film credits, including the action thrillers ''Rancid'' (2004) and ''Assault on Precinct 13'' (200 ...

as Nick Balco *

Teddy Sears Edward M. Sears (born April 6, 1977) is an American actor, known for his roles as Richard Patrick Woolsley on the TNT legal drama series ''Raising the Bar'', Patrick on the first season of FX anthology horror drama ''American Horror Story'' ( ...

as Richard Patrick Woolsley *

Natalia Cigliuti Natalia Cigliuti (born September 6, 1978) is a Uruguayan- American actress, best known for her roles as Lindsay Warner on '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and as Anita Santos Warner on '' All My Children''. Career Cigliuti was born in M ...

as Roberta "Bobbi" Gilardi

Recurring

*Stacy Hall as Vince Culp *

Jon Polito Jon Raymond Polito (December 29, 1950 – September 1, 2016) was an American character actor. In a film and television career spanning 35 years, he amassed over 220 credits. Notable television roles included Detective Steve Crosetti in the fi ...

as Judge Dominick Ventimigla *Paul Joyner as Assistant District Attorney *

John Michael Higgins John Michael Higgins (born February 12, 1963) is an American actor and comedian whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's '' The Late Shift'', and a starring role in the American vers ...

as Judge Albert Farnsworth * Heath Freeman as Gavin Dillon *

Angel Oquendo Angel Oquendo is an American film, television and voice-over actor. In addition to his work on film, he's appeared in a number of television series including ''Mayans MC'', ''9-1-1:Lone Star'', ''Animal Kingdom'' and ''Everybody Hates Chris''. F ...

as Carlos *

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors Gu ...

as Arvina Watkins *

Max Greenfield Max Greenfield (born September 4, 1979) is an American actor. He appeared in recurring roles in ''Veronica Mars'' and ''Ugly Betty''. He co-starred as Schmidt in the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'', for which he received nominations at the Primetime Em ...

as David Steinberg *

Josh Randall Joshua Reeve Randall (born January 27, 1972) is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Mike Burton in the 2000–2004 NBC sitcom '' Ed'' and the recurring, later main role of Fire Captain Sean Beckett from 2021-2 ...

as Tim Porter *

Wilson Cruz Wilson Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría; December 27, 1973) is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on ''My So-Called Life'', Angel in the Broadway tour production of ''Rent'', Dr. Hugh Culber on '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and the re ...

as Rafael de la Cruz

Production

''Raising the Bar'' was originally announced to be joining TNT as a new series in January 2008. It came to TNT through

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television Filmmaking#Production, production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disne ...

and Steven Bochco served as executive producer, with Jesse Bochco as co-executive producer and David Feige as supervising producer. After completing its first season of 10 hour-long episodes in November 2008, the series was renewed for a 15-episode second season, which premiered on Monday June 8, 2009 at 10p.m ET/ 9 p.m. CT. The show was canceled after season 2.

Episodes

Season 1 (2008)

Season 2 (2009)

Cancellation

TNT confirmed to E! Online on November 30, 2009 that the series would not be renewed for a third season. The final three episodes were burned off in a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

December 24, 2009.

Reception

The series debut garnered 7.7 million viewers. It was the biggest audience ever for a new-series launch on basic cable. It beat the record set in 2004 by

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

's launch of ''

The 4400 ''The 4400'' (pronounced "the forty-four hundred") is a science fiction television series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with BSkyB, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network in the United States and Sky ...

'' which opened with an average of 7.4 million viewers; runner-up was

's ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an Television in the United States, American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator o ...

'', which recorded 7 million viewers when it was unveiled in 2005. Following the premiere, ratings evened out to around 5.5 million viewers per episode. For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, the series delivered 1.37 million viewers in the 18–49 demographic, garnering mixed reviews.

Home media

References

External links

* {{Steven Bochco 2008 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings 2000s American workplace drama television series 2000s American legal television series American legal drama television series English-language television shows Television series by ABC Studios TNT (American TV network) original programming Television series created by Steven Bochco Television series about prosecutors